“I always loved science and was on the research track for biology ... but I left college not knowing what to do,” Radunz said. “It just so happened that I got the job at RMH, and I loved it. (The college opening) happened right after I got hired, so that was really exciting.”

Radunz is one of 35 students in the first pharmacy class, which started in 2010 after an addition to the medical campus at 1601 Parkview Ave. was completed. The first class was slightly smaller because awareness about the program wasn’t as broad as it is now.

The target enrollment for each class is 50 students. Classes that followed the first have enrollments that range from 44 to 52 students.

The college draws some students from the Rockford area but is marketed to students throughout the state as an affordable, in-state tuition option for pharmacy school.

Vice Dean David Bartels said UIC was the only Illinois option for pharmacy school for more than 100 years. There used to be about 70 pharmacy schools in the country, but that number has more than doubled over the last decade.

When the Rockford campus was being considered, there was a shortage of pharmacists. But that’s not the case anymore with more school choices available and chains such as Walgreens backing off on building new pharmacies.

There’s still a high demand for pharmacists, though, especially in rural areas and states such as Wisconsin, which only has two pharmacy colleges. That’s why the Rockford campus promotes its rural pharmacy program and also independent pharmacy opportunities. Students work with independent pharmacies such as O’Brien and Dobbins in Belvidere and Lehan Drugs in DeKalb and Sycamore, Bartels said.

Page 2 of 2 - Bartels said UIC still gets about 1,500 applications each year for 210 slots at the Chicago and Rockford campuses.

The college works with local high schools and colleges to recruit students, and also participates in county fairs to educate the public about its rural pharmacy program. The college also has affiliation agreements with state universities that allow students to do their pre-pharmacy coursework at those schools, and then be guaranteed a slot at the college as long as they maintain a certain grade point average.

The curriculum hasn’t changed during the four years since the Rockford campus opened, but officials are in the process of revamping it so first-year students have even more pharmacy-specific training and interaction with patients.

UIC is one college with two campuses, so everything that’s taught in Chicago must be taught at the same time and in the same way in Rockford.

State and national pharmacy officials are also fighting to expand the role of pharmacists so they’re more integrated into the everyday health needs of patients, rather than just focused on dispensing medicine.

One big hurdle is that pharmacists don’t have provider status, meaning they can’t bill for the time spent counseling patients on drug interactions, adjusting their medications and helping them comply with taking the drugs. They can only bill for, and only get paid for, the cost of the drugs.

“If we demonstrate enough benefit, hopefully the momentum will get moving forward so we get the law changed and can be able to do that,” Bartels said.

If pharmacists get provider status, Bartels said the change will “fuel a new round of enrollments” at pharmacy colleges.

Tuan Vu, a 31-year-old graduating pharmacy student who hails from California, hopes to find a job at a hospital or health system after he graduates this month.

“We’ve learned so much in school that’s underused if we’re out in the community. And if we have provider status, that would help in the community. It’s something we want to keep with us, not just dispensing fills. There’s a lot that pharmacists have to offer,” he said.